On a 97 LC, anyone with experience on adding a trans cooler? Recommendations?
Thanks
Pete
Thanks
Pete
Transmission cooler... needed? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter pdm66
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #3
Thank you. I did not know that. Now I do.
If you look behind the grill on the driver's side you can see the trans cooler in front of the rad. There's another heat exchanger built into the bottom of the rad, but I think that's as much to help bring the trans up to temp than it is to cool it.
If you don't know when the last time the fluid was changed is, you should do it.
If you don't know when the last time the fluid was changed is, you should do it.
I stole this pic but the dirty clogged up cooler is the external trans cooler the other cooler is in the radiator.
bloc
SILVER Star
This is a major reason it is in the radiator, but it is also there to help cool when things are really hard on the transmission.
The engine coolant has a tremendous amount of heat absorbing capacity and if the air/fluid cooler isn't doing well enough the lower (cooler, btw) tank of the radiator will start cooling the trans fluid as well.. at least if it is much over the water in that end of the radiator.
Something of a failsafe.
SmokingRocks
hopelessly addicted to Cruisers
From my experience the transmission fluid never got as warm as the coolant after I bypassed the bottom tank 'cooler'. Even in foot down 10,000 ft pass climbs. The a442f atleast runs very very cool.
- Thread starter
- #10
Ok so people HAVE actually bypasses the radiator cooler section? The reason I ask is that I would want to avoid the potential strawberry milkshake issue of coolant mixing with the transmission fluid.
I've not ever heard of that being an issue on these trucks. 3rd gen 4Runners, yes. But it's entirely doable.
Don't mean to hijack this thread, it looks like it might have run its course, and it came along, right when I was figuring how to connect a Vortec to Toyota AT cooling system. Does the factory routing run the AT fluid through the lower rad system or the upper air cooled system first ? Which side of the lower system is in, which side is out ?
It is routed through the lower rad 1st, to warm the fluid, and then to the front mount trans cooler, in the bottom, out the top.
Sorry for the question if it is too basic, but if I wanted to bypass the radiator for transmission cooling/heating, would I just take the two (smaller) hoses that I have circled in the picture that go into the radiator and connect them together with another hose? This way the fluid just goes straight to the Transmission cooler?
sreyes1103
SILVER Star
Anyone know where i can get a replacement Trans cooler and the lines the connect to the Trans cooler? I am having a terrible time googling it. Thank you much in advance!!!
To answer my question about If it helps anyone in the future, I ended up bypassing radiator with the transmission line and the truck has been working great in both hot and cold temps. I replaced the soft line that went from the transmission to the radiator and the line that went from the radiator to the transmission cooler and used one piece of hose to connect the transmission directly to the radiator cooler. I think the line was 5/8 in, but don't quite me on that.
Watch for partouts if you're after OEM, they are no longer available new.
